Event History

Since being launched as an eight-team event back in 1988 by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup has come a long way.

The tournament was not staged after its first edition in 1988 till 1998 and since then has been organised by the ICC as a biennial event. The number of competing teams in the tournament has increased from eight in 1988 to the present 16 giving an opportunity for a number of associate and affiliate teams to showcase its talent.

In all the tournament has been staged eight times, with New Zealand (2002, 2010) and Sri Lanka (2000, 2006) hosting it twice, South Africa staged the event in 1998, Australia (1988), Bangladesh (2004) and Malaysia (2008) have hosted the event once each.

As hosts, Australia won the inaugural edition of the tournament and since then has won the 2002 and 2010 titles as well. India won the 2000 edition beating hosts Sri Lanka and also beat South Africa to claim the 2008 edition.

Pakistan is the only team to have defended its title successfully, by winning in 2004 (beating West Indies)and in 2006 (beating India). England is the only other team that has won the tournament, in 1998.

A number of future Test captains including Sanath Jayasuriya, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Graeme Smith, Tatenda Taibu, Nasser Hussain, Jimmy Adams, Brian Lara have featured in the tournament.

Also featuring in the tournament over the years have been other current stars like Graeme Swann, Yuvraj Singh, Upul Tharanga, Cameron White, Virat Kohli, Ian Bell, Wayne Parnell, Tim Southee, Piyush Chawla and Ahmad Shahzad.

About ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup

• 2012 is the ninth ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup
• Australia (Victoria & South Australia) hosted the inaugural event (then called the Youth World Cup) in 1988 as part of Australia's bicentennial year celebrations
• In the Super League final of the previous event in New Zealand in 2010, Australia (207-9) beat Pakistan (182) at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln
• It was Australia's third title, after having previous won in 1988 and 2002 in Australia and New Zealand, respectively
• Pakistan is the only country to win back-to-back-titles
• Pakistan has appeared in maximum finals - four, winning two and losing two
• Australia and India have played in three finals each
• In the Plate Championship final of the previous event in New Zealand in 2010, Bangladesh (307-8) beat Ireland (112) by 175 runs
• It was Bangladesh's third Plate Championship title after it also won in 1998 and 2004
• Bangladesh has appeared in the most Plate Championship finals - four, winning three and losing one to South Africa
• Other Plate Championship winners include South Africa (2000), Zimbabwe (2002), Nepal (2006) and West Indies (2008)
• No less than 43 players from Full Member countries have gone on to captain their national sides in different formats of the game

Some of the current international stars to have played in ICC U/19 CWC

Australia -Michael Clarke, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Cameron White, James Hopes, Marcus North, Nathan Hauritz, David Warner, Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Daniel Christian, Xavier Doherty, Stefan O'Keefe, Tim Paine, Phillip Hughes, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Marsh, James Pattinson

Bangladesh - Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Rubel Hossain

England -Owais Shah, Graeme Swann, Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell, Alastair Cook, Eoin Morgan, Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter, Tim Bresnan, Samit Patel, Steven Finn

India - Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, VRV Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli

New Zealand- Kyle Mills, Brendan McCullum, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, Nathan McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Bradley-John Watling, Doug Bracewell

Pakistan -Abdul Razzaq, Hasan Raza, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Azhar Ali, Taufeeq Umar, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Junaid Khan

South Africa -Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, Johan Botha, Jacques Rudolf, Albie Morkel, Imran Tahir, Vernon Philander

Sri Lanka -Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardena, Jehan Mubarak, Upul Tharanga, Dammika Prasad, Angelo Mathews, Farveez Maharoof, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera

West Indies -Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Darren Ganga, Ryan Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Keiron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Dinesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons

Zimbabwe -Brendan Taylor, Tatinda Taibu, Hamilton Mazakadza, Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer and Sean Williams

Some of the former stars to have played in ICC U/19 CWC

Stuart Law (Australia), Aminul Islam, Moshrafe Murtaza (both Bangladesh) Naseer Hussain, Michael Atherton, Mark Ramprakash(all England), Narendra Hirwani, Nayan Mongia (both India), Lee Germon, Chris Cairns (both New Zealand), Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Basit Ali (all Pakistan), Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana (both Sri Lanka) and Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams, Ridley Jacobs (West Indies).